VP’s office responds to PA gov who said Vance betrayed Appalachian roots with 'bull---- politics' over SNAP
Vice President JD Vance’s office hit back Monday at Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro, who used a Philadelphia press conference to criticize Vance while outlining the state’s contingency plan to keep SNAP (food stamp) benefits flowing during the government shutdown.
Shapiro had joined 24 states to successfully sue the USDA over November’s SNAP benefit suspension. The Commonwealth of Pennsylvania itself was not a plaintiff, as Republican Attorney General David Sunday was not involved.
Shapiro referenced Vance’s "Hillbilly Elegy" and the Ohioan’s strong bonds with his elders in Breathitt County, Kentucky – the heart of Appalachia – as he lit into what he described as the vice president’s "bull---- politics" that belie his Appalachian roots.
"America has a president and a vice president that don't give a damn about all Americans," he added.
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Vance press secretary Taylor Van Kirk responded in comments to Fox News Digital on Monday, saying the governor should "take a look in the mirror if he wants to see who is to blame for this Democrat shutdown."
She said Shapiro and Democrats supported "Schumer’s shutdown" and in doing so "screwed over working-class men and women."
"While little Josh was whining like a child about the problems his own party created, the Trump administration has been crafting a deal with commonsense Democrats to reopen the government and fund SNAP benefits," Van Kirk added.
Shapiro had joined his fellow Montgomery County Democrat Val Arkoosh to discuss the SNAP freeze’s effects and what he and Arkoosh – the state’s human services chief -- were doing to help affected families.
When a reporter told Shapiro that Vance criticized the court order demanding the release of SNAP funds, the governor said that he would expect President Donald Trump to do so but that Vance’s history wouldn’t presage the same response.
"JD Vance is a total phony… [he] rose to some prominence by writing a book about growing up in Appalachia, where there's a whole lot of people who get SNAP," Shapiro said.
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The Appalachian Regional Commission (ARC), led by permanent co-chair Gayle Manchin and 2025 co-chair Gov. Wes Moore of Maryland, considers 423 counties from Alabama to New York part of Appalachia, including three-quarters of Pennsylvania. ARC reported 1.4 million families in its region are on SNAP, including 14% of families in Appalachian Pennsylvania.
"[Vance] made millions of dollars on the backs of telling their stories, and then he turned his damn back on those very people who he likes to write about and claim as his own," Shapiro said.
He added that Vance professes to be a person of faith, and cited a passage from the book of Deuteronomy that says people should respond to those in need with an open hand.
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"So for JD Vance now to turn around after claiming all these things his whole life and literally go to court to stop hungry people from eating, that is not only phony, it’s shameful."
"You’ll excuse me for getting emotional about it, but when I see hungry people in my state who are hungry because of JD Vance's bull---- politics, that makes me angry. And that's why I went to court."
At the presser, Shapiro explained that Arkoosh’s office was able to fund SNAP through a state disaster declaration and directing millions of dollars to food banks through the Feeding Pennsylvania program.
"Republicans in Congress must work across the aisle to quickly reopen the government and protect food assistance and access to health care for the millions of people in Pennsylvania and around the country still at risk because of this continued inaction," Arkoosh said in a statement.
The war of words could preview a potential 2028 matchup as both Vance and Shapiro are considered top potential contenders for their parties’ presidential nominations next cycle.